Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager
I remember looking forward to seeing this episode all summer of '97. With the exciting way "Scorpion I" ended, the promos UPN played that summer hyping the conclusion, and learning there would be a new Borg cast member all contributed to my anticipation for September 3rd. I was hoping that this Borg two-parter would propel the series into a new era the way "The Best of Both Worlds" had done for TNG. Unfortunately, it didn't and the conclusion wasn't the equal of its predecessor the way TBoBW II was to its first half.
One major problem I had was Jeri Ryan's portrayal of Seven of Nine. She behaved far too much like a human thug with a chip on her shoulder giving off far too much attitude. I later learned that Ryan had no idea what a Borg was and Jeri Taylor had sent her some videos from First Contact telling her that Seven is sort of like the Queen but not. To me that was a big mistake. She should have been told to review Patrick Stewart's chilling performance as Locutus--that was the perfect portrayal of an individual Borg capturing all the menace without the emotion. In every scene in this episode with Seven I felt like I wasn't watching a Borg but a garden variety villian strutting around making threats. It really hurt the show I thought.
Strike two. They didn't kill off Kim. It was so perfectly set up. Bad decision. Wang was a bad actor and Kim was dull as dirt. And while necessary, I wasn't crazy about Chakotay taking over. Beltran's not that strong of an actor and Chakotay doesn't have the gravitas. Plus, I didn't like him rescinding Janeway's orders. I can see why the writers would choose to focus on Janeway, Seven and the Doctor in the years to come. And while some of the technobabble was okay to have included given the players involved I didn't care for some of it and felt it got in the way.
I thought the idea of fluidic space was a fresh idea and provided a nice battlefield. When the weapon had finally been developed, one of the more suspenseful moments was when Voyager launched the first group of modified photon torpedoes and it left you wondering was it going to work like they had theorized the nanoprobes would when it didn't immediately take effect. I also thought the idea that the Borg had precipitated this conflict was wholly appropriate and one of those surprises that you should have known the whole time. I also liked the surreal shot of Seven receiving instructions from the Collective intercut with the attack on a fleet of cubes.
Overall, the episode didn't take enough risks and didn't hold a lot of surprises. It was mostly solid even though at times it felt like it was going through the motions. Oh and I was glad to see they were still in Borg territory by the time the credits rolled. I was afraid they'd be safely out of it..oh wait, that's next week!
Just 3 stars out of 4
I remember looking forward to seeing this episode all summer of '97. With the exciting way "Scorpion I" ended, the promos UPN played that summer hyping the conclusion, and learning there would be a new Borg cast member all contributed to my anticipation for September 3rd. I was hoping that this Borg two-parter would propel the series into a new era the way "The Best of Both Worlds" had done for TNG. Unfortunately, it didn't and the conclusion wasn't the equal of its predecessor the way TBoBW II was to its first half.
One major problem I had was Jeri Ryan's portrayal of Seven of Nine. She behaved far too much like a human thug with a chip on her shoulder giving off far too much attitude. I later learned that Ryan had no idea what a Borg was and Jeri Taylor had sent her some videos from First Contact telling her that Seven is sort of like the Queen but not. To me that was a big mistake. She should have been told to review Patrick Stewart's chilling performance as Locutus--that was the perfect portrayal of an individual Borg capturing all the menace without the emotion. In every scene in this episode with Seven I felt like I wasn't watching a Borg but a garden variety villian strutting around making threats. It really hurt the show I thought.
Strike two. They didn't kill off Kim. It was so perfectly set up. Bad decision. Wang was a bad actor and Kim was dull as dirt. And while necessary, I wasn't crazy about Chakotay taking over. Beltran's not that strong of an actor and Chakotay doesn't have the gravitas. Plus, I didn't like him rescinding Janeway's orders. I can see why the writers would choose to focus on Janeway, Seven and the Doctor in the years to come. And while some of the technobabble was okay to have included given the players involved I didn't care for some of it and felt it got in the way.
I thought the idea of fluidic space was a fresh idea and provided a nice battlefield. When the weapon had finally been developed, one of the more suspenseful moments was when Voyager launched the first group of modified photon torpedoes and it left you wondering was it going to work like they had theorized the nanoprobes would when it didn't immediately take effect. I also thought the idea that the Borg had precipitated this conflict was wholly appropriate and one of those surprises that you should have known the whole time. I also liked the surreal shot of Seven receiving instructions from the Collective intercut with the attack on a fleet of cubes.
Overall, the episode didn't take enough risks and didn't hold a lot of surprises. It was mostly solid even though at times it felt like it was going through the motions. Oh and I was glad to see they were still in Borg territory by the time the credits rolled. I was afraid they'd be safely out of it..oh wait, that's next week!
Just 3 stars out of 4
